Five days later
Jet got up and rubbed her eyes. It was morning, but it seemed like the day was over. Jet looked out the window. She saw a garden with several trees and other vegetation.
“Cognitive ability improved, completion time estimated at forty-four days, three hours, twelve minutes, and fifteen seconds,” Leviathan said.
Jet sighed. She had been teaching April for days.
“I like playing with you, Jet,” April said in her childlike voice.
Teaching April in any traditional sense was slow. Jet needed to teach her these puzzles faster. She knew April’s empathy receptors were impaired, which affected her learning ability—at least, that was what Ash had said.
“Yeah, I like it too, April,” Jet said.
Although April Mason was no more, she hated being called Delta. The funny thing was that everyone else referred to her as Delta.
“What games do you like to play?” April asked.
“I like the Colossal Machine. I was good at it until I started traveling,” Jet said.
“I used to play that, too. Can we play together?”
Jet thought about it for a long time before answering. Jet remembered reading that people learned a lot faster with the aid of a computer. It was worth a shot.
“I think that is a good idea, but I don’t have any of my VR gear, let alone a computer to connect to the Machine,” Jet said.
Delta raised one of her arms and tapped a sequence into a keypad. A three-dimensional representation of Jeremiah appeared.
“Grandpa, Jet needs a computer and VR gear. We’re going to play together in the Colossal Machine.”
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The hologram turned to Jet.
“Josephine,” Jeremiah asked, “how do you think this will help?”
“When working with Ash, she said that Delta’s empathy receptors were not firing. She fixed them, but like any muscle, they need to be flexed and conditioned. Interactive learning has proven to be the fastest way to stimulate the brain.”
Jeremiah’s hologram stood motionless for several seconds; Jet thought that the connection had been severed and was about to reset it when Jeremiah continued.
“Okay, I will allow it. I will make the arrangements. You shall have your equipment soon.”
Jet nodded her thanks, and Jeremiah’s hologram waved as April severed the connection.
“It sounds like we will have everything we need soon,” April said.
“It will be days before we get that stuff,” Jet said.
“I don’t know how things come around here. Ash said that elves make the stuff in the basement.”
Jet laughed. She had thought teaching Delta would be a chore, but she liked April and working with her one-on-one these past few days had been more rewarding than she had thought possible.
“I got it. Let’s play checkers!” April said.
“That game is too easy. Let’s play chess.”
“I don’t like that game. It makes my head hurt,” April said.
“It’s a good game for your brain. Ash asked me to help you, and chess is the best way I know—besides an uplink to the Colossal Machine, that is!” Jet chuckled.
“Well, I suppose I could try it, since you will be with me.”
“Wait, did you have a bad experience playing chess?”
“Yeah. Before you came, Ash hooked me up to a machine that had a chess game. I got beat within a minute or two. It wasn’t any fun, so I stopped playing. The program was mean, too.”
“I didn’t think programs had the capability of being mean,” Jet said.
“This chess master program was not only good, but it was scary, too.”
“Can you explain how the machine was mean to you?”
“When I would make a move that the game didn’t like, it would yell and curse at me. It also threatened me and made me feel bad,” April said
I guess the empathy receptors are working now, Jet thought.
“Well, we can play together,” Jet said. “I won’t be mean at all. How about that?”
April smiled. “Thanks, Jet. You are so cool,” she said.
Then she did something that Jet didn’t expect. She gave Jet a hug.
“Let’s start!” April said cheerily.
They played several rounds of chess on the most modern board she had ever seen. Her visor enhanced the virtual pieces. Jet won most of the games, but she could tell that April was learning some strategy. She was anticipating Jet’s moves. By the twelfth game, April was giving Jet some trouble. Jet noticed that when April focused, she could complete tasks very quickly, and with little effort.